Sunday, August 15, 2010

I want to point out a very well written comment to a blog I posted last week. Mark, from Memphis, wrote:

The treatment of epilepsy will always be a complex issue, with complex and varying results, and rate of success, which degree of success can also vary over time. Further, you know how close the connection is between brain neuronal function, mood, and behavior.

I feel any increase in suicidal behaviors, whether attempted (as in some personality disorders) or the unfortunately successful suicide, is due to similarly complex pathology and disorder. Neuronal dysfunction leads to though or mood disorders, depression, and is further aggrevated by the social isolation, difficulty in finding employment, and lowered self-esteem many patients with epilepsy face. Medications can also complicate patients' function, especially in patients who have refractory, difficult-to- control epilepsy.

Having known your work in the past, I am proud to have worked with you, and have seen many patients who underwent successful surgery for their epilepsy, and reported significantly improved mood and cognition in their postoperative course.

Regardless of the degree of connection between medication and suicide, we see it is vital (in the truest sense of the word) to get patients the best control of their seizures by any means possible.

1 comment:

  1. Yes. thank you, Dr. Wyler

    It's Mark Tittle- I worked with you at Epi-Care in Memphis. I will always treasure those years as the best of my career; however, that makes me sad. Epilepsy has always been my favorite area of study, as it is one of the few conditions for which EEG is diagnostic. I also feel compassion and empathy for patients with these disorders.

    I am especially sad, that my administrator recently confided in me (confidentially, as regards my co-workers who may lose their jobs), that the hospital may soon close and abandon the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at Methodist. Unfortunately, this would mean patients seeking monitoring will have to travel to Vanderbilt in Nashville, Washington U. in St. Louis, Little Rock, or Jackson, MS, to get a comprehensive workup. So, the very patients I feel most compassionate about may not be served, due to this maddening healthcare/ insurance/ budgetary crisis.

    It just ain't right...

    There is one bright note- the Lab at LeBonheur Childrens' Hospital in Memphis seems to be doing fine- the payor mix,is good, and children seem to draw what financial/ grant support they need and deserve. I am thankful for that, as you also know how vital early intervention is in treating Epilepsy.

    Thanks for your time. I like your post.

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